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Micaela Díaz-Sánchez Wins Wilson Fellowship

Friday, April 18, 2014 - 3:00pm

Micaela Díaz-Sánchez, assistant professor of Latina/o studies, has been awarded a Career Enhancement Fellowship from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. The award will support the final phase of archival and ethnographic research leading to the completion of her book manuscript, (In)Between Nation and Diaspora: Chicana and Mexicana Feminist Performance.

“Scholarship in Chicana/o studies has established a foundational legacy of theorizing the ways that Chicana/o and Mexicana/o cultural producers embody and represent hemispheric indigenous identities and histories,” Díaz-Sánchez explained. “In this interdisciplinary project, I expand upon that mandate to examine how feminist Chicana and Mexicana practitioners embody and represent these identities and histories in conversation with African diasporic histories and iconographies.”

"I am truly honored to have received this fellowship and thrilled at the opportunity to continue working on my book," says Díaz-Sánchez. "I am also incredibly thankful to my colleagues for all of their support."

Díaz-Sánchez came to Mount Holyoke in 2011 from Northwestern University, where she completed a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Latina/o studies with an affiliation in African American studies. At Northwestern, she was selected as faculty member of the year by the Multicultural Student Affairs Office for bridging student affairs with her work in the classroom, and for serving as a mentor to students of color on campus.

Since Díaz-Sánchez's arrival she has courses not previously offered at MHC including Introduction to Latina/o Studies, Performance in the Americas, Afro-Latina/o Diasporic Performance, and Latina Theatre and Performance. She has also taught advanced-level seminars including Latina Feminisms, Trans-Latin@ Cultural Studies, and Race and Representation in Latina/o Film.

She received her Ph.D. from Stanford University’s Department of Drama and Performance Studies in 2009. During her time at Stanford, Díaz-Sánchez focused on directing and performing in original work by queer writers of color while working in community-based performance projects throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation is a private nonprofit based in Princeton, New Jersey. It administers programs that cultivate talented emerging leaders for both higher education and public service.